Video games are all about dying. Be it Pac-Man failing to escape a ghost and bursting into pixelated oblivion, Mario melting himself by accidentally leaping into a pool of lava, or being one of the 99 that fails to win in a battle royale, gamers worldwide have died a thousand deaths. Thankfully, the grim reaper is a mere inconvenience in these digital realms, another obstacle you must traverse in order to do a Cody Rhodes and ‘finish the story’. Far fewer games explore the topic of Death in real life, the one with a capital ‘D’ that we all try really hard not to think about and desperately hope doesn’t apply to us or our loved ones. Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, however, well, that takes a long and hard look at death. Indeed, death, sorrow, and loss, is the very reason for this metroidvania’s existence.
“This journey that we want to share with you, it had to be a Metroidvania”, explains Abubakar Salim, the founder of Surgent Studios. “To me, the genre’s rules and structures of the genre, behave like grief. You are thrown into this alien world you can never prepare for. Yet, the longer you stay in it, explore its corners, in time the more comfortable you get with it.” Tales of Kenzera: Zau may, at a glance, appear to be just another Metroidvania – a genre that we are all too familiar with – but this is a game with surprising depths. The team at Surgent Studios are using a Metroidvania in an attempt to tell a heartfelt story about the love between a father and son, and the transformative power of loss.
“It’s a coming of age story”, continues Abubakar, “This young kid to a young man. Zau is learning to cope with the loss of his father, through the characters he meets and the vibrant world he engages in. Zau learns about this new version of himself, this version where he needs to push on”. Tales of Kenzera: Zau has all the features you would expect of a Metroidvania; a vast 2.5D world to explore, a combat system that provides player agency, discoverable cosmic powers to do battle with, and, of course, double jumps. A lot of double jumps. But more intriguing is how the journey of grief has been woven throughout the game. “From the mask switching in combat to the movement, we wanted to emulate this dance of grief”, expands Abubakar, “The journey of grief is full of surprises, full of ups and downs, it feels chaotic, a constant track that you have to move to. But if you listen carefully you can find the beat to follow to glide through the music that’s thrown at you.”
The themes of Tales of Kenzera: Zau, were inspired by the passing of Abubakar’s father; “When I was clearing my father’s things after he passed away, there was this book he left which contained his handwriting. It meant so much to me, as by looking at his handwriting it felt like I could almost bring him back to life, imagining him writing it. This inspired how we get into the story.”
It truly does, as this is a game of duality, of life and death, and of time as well. The modern space of Kenzera, set in 2089, is seen through the eyes of Zuberi; a young boy who has recently lost his father. Zuberi uncovers a story written by his father, a tale of fantastical myths and legends in the distant past, a tale of the warrior shaman Zau. Despite Zuberi and Zau’s many differences, they share a very human pain, the loss of a father. This connects Zuberi to Zau, to the mythical past – which is where the majority of the game takes place – a realm heavily influenced by Bantu culture and full of bright colours, fantastical creatures, glorious vistas, and astonishing scenery.
Which, of course, leads to an intriguing question, why is a game about grief so colourful? “It’s a question that a lot of people ask me”, responds Ackeem Durrant, Art Lead and Character Artist, “It’s a great question, as it enables us to shine a light on our source material, Bantu cultures. When we look at those cultures, if we take funerals for example, the colours worn aren’t the same as we would wear in the West. There are black and whites, but there are lots of red, gold, blues, greens, there’s a flourish of colours. We are mourning someone but we are also celebrating them simultaneously, which is how we landed on this visual style.”
Grief informs both the narrative and visuals of Tales of Kenzera, but does it inform the gameplay mechanics as well? “We looked as a team into our own personal experiences of grief, we really tried to express the gameplay as an analogy of that,” explains Lead Designer Zi Peters. “Zau is a warrior shaman, a role that combines combat prowess with mastery of cosmic power, all in the aim of healing people and restless spirits. The source of Zau’s supernatural abilities stems from the two masks that he inherits from his recently deceased father. We wanted to explore a duality of move sets, we tried tying in emotions to movements and abilities in this way, paired with the gameplay of mask switching, means that the player is back and forth between play styles, serving as an analogy for the whirlwind of emotions that Zau is experiencing.”
Even the movement and traversal of Zau is driven by an exploration of grief. Whilst Zau is delightfully capable from the outset of the game – he can welcomingly double jump and dash from the get go – he will still face insurmountable obstacles, especially without his beloved father by his side. As such, Zau isn’t fully equipped for the world he must explore, he must track down new abilities to continue his journey. “It was important to create a mild sense of being lost and not knowing where to go”, Zi continues, “and to allow for the freedom of exploration.” Ultimately, just us when learning to live with grief, it is vital that we look outside of ourselves for guidance.
Metroidvanias are a dime a dozen in 2024, yet the influence and inclusion of grief, an emotional theme underexplored in mainstream Western culture, has provided Tales of Kenzera: Zau with something rare in its chosen genre; a unique approach. It will be fascinating to see how successful Surgent Studios are in their chosen challenge of weaving grief into the structure of a Metroidvania when the game launches later this month. Still, on current evidence, the game they have diligently crafted promises players a fascinating journey of ups and downs.
